Tag Archive | Microbiology
LabBook May 10, 2013
The patient who couldn’t swallow, lung transplants, neuroprosthetics and more in this week’s LabBook.
LabBook April 5, 2013
Scouring the English Channel for microbes, bird mummies and more in this week’s LabBook.
An Update on Fecal Transplants, and How The Procedure Helped One Sick Little Boy
Fecal microbiota transplants have been in the news again this week, thanks to a new study published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The procedure is used to help people suffering from severe gastrointestinal problems, usually caused by a Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, infection. Doctors take stools from a person with a healthy gut […]
Fecal “Transplant” Helps One-year-old Beat Relentless Infection
The key moments may not have been quite as gripping as a heart or liver transplant, but this summer Grant Fisher of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, rapidly, almost miraculously, regained his health thanks to a profoundly personal and entirely biological donation from his mother. On August 3, 2012, Fisher became the first child in the […]
The Western Diet’s Immune Impact
Inflammatory bowel disease is an ailment on the rise. A European study found that the incidence of IBD roughly doubled from 1990 to 2001, and even larger surges in IBD cases have been observed in areas of the United States and Europe studied since 1965. But intriguingly, this epidemic of IBD appears to be localized […]
Brucella and the Fake Self-Destruct
By Rob Mitchum Brucella abortus is a particularly pesky pathogen. Frequently infecting cattle in many countries around the world, the bacterium causes the most common zoonotic infection, usually passing from animal to humans through ingestion of unpasteurized dairy products. While the infection, known as brucellosis or undulant fever, is rarely deadly, it can cause assorted […]
Morphine’s Bad Influence on the Microbiome
Painkillers are an important tool in the hospital. After major surgery, relieving a patient’s pain using morphine and other opiates helps their recovery and quality of life while the body heals. But these drugs are not without their side effects and risks, from the potential for dependence to symptoms such as nausea, constipation, and itching. […]
When Computer Infections Help Science
Under normal circumstances, people want to keep infections away from their computers. But for Gary An, reconstructing nasty infections inside a computer is a research project, not an act of cyber-terrorism. In collaboration with laboratories at the University of Chicago Medicine studying infectious diseases, An is creating computer models that simulate the delicate, complex balance […]
The Helpful Pacifism of Bacterial Cheaters
Have you ever cheated on a test by glancing over at someone else’s work? Or relied on a fellow student to carry the load on a group project while you coast along with minimal effort? While few will admit to these forms of cheating, they have long been fixtures of the classroom. However, a lazy […]
The Viruses Hidden Within Us
By Meghan Sullivan What is it about viruses that so easily captures our attention? With the teeth mostly taken out of bacterial infections by the advent of penicillin and parasites a rare and mostly exotic concern, viruses remain one nemesis that we often struggle to treat. Unlike complex bacteria and parasites, viruses are little more […]
